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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29740782">The Night Before</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sea_greensky/pseuds/sea_greensky'>sea_greensky</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Devil's Cub - Georgette Heyer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Inspired by Georgette Heyer, The Devil's Cub</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:21:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,760</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29740782</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sea_greensky/pseuds/sea_greensky</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The wedding is tomorrow but Mary needs to talk to Dominic now. This is mostly fluff, with a little bit of angst. The characters have some things to sort out.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Night Before</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Marquis of Vidal threw himself back atop his bedcovers, his night gear abandoned. The weather which had been so stubbornly cold these last weeks had finally turned, and Paris was sultry enough to be stuffy even at this late hour. Tomorrow he would marry his Mary – the thought of it was enough to bring a foolish grin to his face, but he did not care. He had not been much in the habit of considering if he was happy or not before he met her, staving off boredom had been his primary concern, but now. Now he was definitely happy, and far from bored, even by the whirlwind of preparations which had engulfed them all.</p>
<p>He had not considered how much it mattered to him that his parents might like his chosen bride either, but he found that it did. That Mary and the Duchess had hit it off did not particularly surprise him. His mother’s charm was hard to resist, and Mary’s particular combination of courage, humour, and occasional recklessness was bound to appeal to that volatile lady. His grin, he suspected was more foolish than ever. <br/>Where his father was concerned, he’d been prepared to weather the storm of his disapproval, trusting that he would come to appreciate Mary in time, but instead the two had quickly formed a bond that had shown him a side of the Duke he had never imagined. Avon hadn’t just taken Mary to heart as a daughter, he treated her as if she alone amongst the family might truly appreciate his subtlety. Which Vidal supposed might indeed be true. Altogether it offered a glimpse of a future he hadn’t known he wanted, or even imagined possible the night he shot Quarles. Dammit if he didn’t send the man a gift in thanks – though it wouldn’t be much of a jest if he wasn’t there to see the fellows face.</p>
<p>A soft scratching at the door pulled his thoughts away from these pleasant images, Timms he supposed, fussing over yet another detail of tomorrows costume. The man had been all but insufferable all day, and it was only the thought of Mary’s soft laughter when he recounted his (many) sufferings at the valet’s hands that had stopped him snapping at him this evening. He didn’t bother to move or cover himself as he called out to “enter” but shot to his feet still naked when he beheld not Timms, but Mary in the doorway, blushing an increasingly fiery red, and unable to take her eyes from him.</p>
<p>Vidal allowed himself a moment to bask in that gaze, it made him feel like a particularly delicious sweetmeat laid out for her inspection, before reaching for the heavy silk banyan placed in readiness on a nearby chair and shrugging himself into it. A frown began to tug at his brow as he wondered what might have bought her here.</p>
<p>“My dear?” he murmured, as his heart beat a little faster with panic now. “You had better not be planning on running away from me again you know.” Easier to try and make something of a joke out of his sudden fear.</p>
<p>“Certainly not My Lord”, she replied, and something possessive in the way she said it relived him of his most pressing anxieties upon the matter.</p>
<p>“Although…I do find myself sometimes wishing that I’d allowed you to abduct me the last time you offered, that we might have saved some of this…” she gestured helplessly, and he smiled back at her.<br/>“So, what has bought you here my love? It’s most irregular you know, even if I am delighted to see you.” He frowned a little again.</p>
<p>Her voice was a little husky as she replied, “We’ve had so little time alone since Dijon and there are things we should discuss before tomorrow.” She paused. “My mother and sister really. How they will figure in our lives. When you said if it was not you it would be another with Sophia – what will that mean for us?”</p>
<p>Vidal crossed the room to Mary and gently drew her towards the chairs that flanked the empty fireplace. He considered perching her on his knee before settling her, somewhat regretfully, in her own chair, hoping that what he read in her own eyes was a corresponding regret. </p>
<p>“What I meant is that your sister wants finery, gaiety, excitement – and she’s not overly concerned about where she finds it. I told her I meant everything that was most dishonourable where she was concerned, and she was quite prepared to come with me knowing that, dazzled by the prospect of Paris and the pretty trinkets I would have bought her.” Vidal eyed the grate moodily as he continued, “in considering it, she is no worse than I was for making her such an offer, and whilst I wouldn’t have cared the snap of my fingers for any threats your mother made, she only wanted what half the old tabby’s in London would happily have snatched for their own daughters no matter what sort of man they thought me… But the situation has changed somewhat, and I doubt that quite the same opportunities or threats will present themselves to Sophia now.”<br/>He looked quickly at Mary, gauging her reaction to his words, but she seemed unruffled. </p>
<p>“Your family will be acknowledged by mine, and by your grandfather. The Alastair’s are not such very desirable connections when it comes to marriage if there isn’t money or the very definite promise of patronage to sweeten the deal. We’re even less desirable enemies though, which will be more than enough to give pause to those who might have les honourable intentions. Your mother will get the invitations she craves, Mary, but honestly, I think they will be bored by the company they find themselves in. It’ll be devilish stiff you know, and whilst she’s a damnably pretty girl, she’ll find she’s a lot more competition than she’s used to.” And this time when he looked at her he smiled.</p>
<p>“But I think we’ll be out of England for a year or more, when my esteemed parents are finished showing you off to Paris, I want to show you a few things myself, and too have you to myself for at least a while. Your sister will likely be married and settled long before we return, and when we do get back – we can see them if you wish, but we can just as well consign them to the devil if they bother you.”</p>
<p>Mary considered the man before her, there was still a niggling something at the back of her mind about Sophia. The guilt that she’d felt about stealing him from her sister was long gone, though she had no doubts that damsel would never forgive her. The truth, she knew, was that she hadn’t been happy at home, and was all too ready to turn her back on that part of her life altogether. There had been something else in Vidal’s words though, a sense that he didn’t see the kindness, the intrinsic worth within himself, that she did. His next words confirmed her suspicions.</p>
<p>“Mary, why do you love me?” his voice was gruff, she strongly suspected it was a question he would very much liked not to have asked but could not help, and she wondered how best to keep her tone light as she replied.<br/>“Well, you’re such a very beautiful man” she started in as demure a fashion as she could manage, hoping he would catch the lurking laugh behind it. An answering gleam in his eye made her think he did. “And then you were kind enough to find me that basin when I really needed it, were determined to rescue me from my own folly – more than once, and I believe you would always find me. Oh, my dear, how could I not love you.” Mary finished; her voice gone low again even as she noticed with consternation that Vidal still frowned, so she held out her hands towards him.</p>
<p>“For comfort.” She explained as she saw the question in his eyes. He took them up in his own but the frown remained and so she waited.</p>
<p>“Mary, do you know what to expect in the marriage bed?” he asked abruptly.</p>
<p>“I do” she replied coolly. “Your aunt Fanny gave Julianna and I a somewhat involved description not long after she arrived, and your mother too; her explanation was rather more succinct and to the point.” Mary smiled, “She told me to trust you and everything would be alright.”</p>
<p>To her surprise Vidal released her hand and almost flung himself out of his chair. There was, she thought, something of the caged beast about him as he paced across the floor.<br/>“And do you? Trust me. After everything I’ve done to you?” He asked, meeting her gaze again.</p>
<p>“I do.” She replied calmly, holding his look, and noting the turmoil she saw in it. “I do.” She repeated.</p>
<p>“Why, Mary? I hope I would have balked at rape, despite being half drunk, even if you hadn’t shot me, but you could have been badly hurt in Dijon, and I would have murdered Comyn without a thought.” His voice was harsh, and her stomach twisted at the anguish she heard there, so she rose and went to stand before him.</p>
<p>“Well, I did shoot you, which you took surprisingly well, you didn’t kill Frederick, and I have my own share of responsibility to take for both occasions. Vidal, Dominic… My love – I am not sorry to have seen the worst of you, as well as the best. I trust you as I do because we came through those things, and with only the veriest scratches to show for it...” </p>
<p>“Mary, you’re an absolute wretch,” he smiled, “I’m trying to be noble you know.” The smile deepened.</p>
<p>“Positively a gentleman.” She returned his smile with good measure. “A nobleman would surely kiss me now.”</p>
<p>“If I start kissing you now, here, I have no idea if I could stop” he warned.</p>
<p>She smiled up at him and stepped closer into his body, sighing happily as his arms came around her.<br/>“I wouldn’t mind at all if you didn’t” she said, “Because I love you, and I trust you, and I find I like being reckless with you.”</p>
<p>His arms tightened around her as he gathered her up for a kiss.</p>
<p>“Why I ever thought you straight laced is quite beyond me” he murmured a little later.</p>
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